REARDON: Big shocker in Wyandotte County as Mayor Joe Reardon decides to call it quits. Less than 8 weeks before he was to face voters in his bid for re-election, Reardon abruptly decided he will not seek another term.

MEDICAID EXPANSION: If you thought the fight over what so many now refer to as Obamacare was over, it’s not. It has simply moved to state capitals. While the Supreme Court upheld most of the Affordable Care Act, it left up to states whether to expand Medicaid. Medicaid Expansion is going to be one of the most contentious issues lawmakers wrestle with in Topeka and Jefferson City.

MENTAL HEALTH: Prompted by massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback comes to Kansas City to announce $10 million fund to treat the most serious cases of mental illness in the state. What are we to read into this latest announcement?

KCMO HEALTH TAX: Why is city hall getting ready to put on the ballot a renewal of a healthcare tax this April for the indigent? And not a stop-gap measure until the Affordable Care Act gets fully up and running in 2014, but for the next 9 years?

JUDICIAL CLASH: It’s been traditional in Kansas for the chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court to address a joint session of the legislature in making the annual State of the Judiciary speech. But, not this year. Justice Lawton Nuss has been rebuffed.He’s been told by the Speaker of the House there’s simply no time for him to make any remarks and instead to put his words in writing. The turn of events has been viewed as a major slight of the judiciary by the conservative tilting legislature which is expected to take up within weeks a bill to change the way higher court justices are selected.

ARBORETUM: Visitors to the Overland Park Arboretum are now greeted by a big surprise. A ticket charge. If Powell Gardens charges $10 for its 900 acres, is it fair for the Overland Park attraction to begin charging $3 for its 300 acres, or is that a stretch?